[Science Fiction] Escape from Paint City

Shuichen walked into the lighthouse, touched his nose, rubbed his thumb and index finger, felt Sha Qianxing's breath lingering on his fingertips, calming his heart down.

The whole interior of the lighthouse is relatively dark, only a beam of light penetrates the floating dust from the top, hits down the spiral staircase, and falls in a circular circle of light spots on the central floor of the first floor.There is an undercurrent surging outside the light beam, as if there are dormant beasts ready to rush out of the darkness at any time.

The stairs are narrow and each step is high.It stands in the center, exposed to the sun, and the steps are illuminated brightly, rising around and leading to the observation deck at the top.Shui Chen looked up, and Dr. Intuition was waiting for him there.

He stepped on the steps and walked up and down the stairs in circles.I didn’t pay attention when I was on the first floor, but now when I go to a certain height and look down, I can see many transparent and closed life capsules on the bottom floor, but the light is too dim to see who is inside.

Shuichen has no intention of exploring the identity of the people in the life capsule.There are nameless emotions leading him to climb towards the top of the lighthouse, so he has no time to care about other things now.The life capsules are all densely arranged pointing to the stairs, as if worshiping towards the center in the dark, this kind of arrangement makes Shui Chen feel familiar.

Da Da's footsteps kept going upwards, Shui Chen crossed the same dark second floor, the stairs became narrower and narrower, and finally reached the end - the top observation deck.

"Please come in."

Just as Shuichen stopped outside the door, the people inside the door made a sound like a prophet.The voice is gentle and magnetic, like the voice of a kind elder, which makes people feel good.

Shuichen swallowed, pushed the door open and went in.

Number Seven was still wearing a suit, sitting on a high-back chair with his back to the door, looking into the distance through the glass window.The tall chair back blocked his entire body, only the top of the top hat could be seen, which was a bit higher than the chair back.

Hearing the sound of Shui Chen entering the door, No. [-] got up and turned around to walk in front of him, with pride and doting in his eyes, as if facing his most beloved and promising youngest son.

The moment he saw the front of No. [-], Shui Chen froze, and his expression changed between doubt and pain. He held his forehead with one hand, and pressed his temple desperately with his palm, trying to prevent the invisible electric current from stimulating the brain. The knees couldn't help but curl up and knelt down to the floor.

No. [-] quietly stayed by the side, waiting for Shui Chen to pass this buffer period.

A few minutes later, Shuichen panted heavily like a drowning person being rescued, a lot of sweat leaked from his forehead and nose, and his bangs were slightly wet.

He raised his head, his eyes were wet, like a puppy just out of the water, and his voice was uncertain.

"Dr. Qi? Why are you here?"

Shuichen's memories of Qicheng and Mocheng are mixed.He remembered eating at the dinner table with Shui Dad and Shui Mom, and he also remembered that Shui Dad and Shui Mom had passed away when he was young; Died by the tide.

Insect infestation...

What is the bug swarm, why did everyone enter the life capsule, when did it happen, and how did he appear in the paint city.

What is real and what is false, Shui Chen's brain is in chaos, he opened his mouth but didn't know what to say next.

"Shuichen, this is the first time we meet. I am the manager of Qicheng——No. [-]."

No. [-] smiled slightly, introduced himself calmly, and did not raise any doubts about Shui Chen's abnormality.

"Aren't you Dr. Qi? No, who is Dr. Qi... Why am I here? Where's Qin Xun? Is everyone safe?"

Shui Chen's words were incoherent, even he himself couldn't figure out what he wanted to express.

"Do not worry."

Number Seven took Shuichen by the wrist, took him to the sofa near the glass window and sat down, poured him another cup of hot tea, and sat back on the high-backed chair before, resting his hands on the crutches, waiting Zhuo Shuichen calmed down.

Number Seven's body temperature was lower than that of Shui Chen. When touching his wrist, Shui Chen couldn't help shivering, but his body didn't reject it, as if he was used to the contact of Number Seven, and he could even recover from the cold. Feel a touch of warmth.

"What exactly is going on?"

As if having two lives, Shuichen has two completely different memories in his brain, and even the people around him have very different experiences.

No. [-] didn't answer, but pointed to the hot tea, signaling Shuichen to drink a little first.

This kind of gentle attitude made Shuichen unable to object, so he could only drink the hot tea in one gulp according to No. [-]'s request. Because of his haste, the tea splashed out and burned the back of his hand red.

No. [-] shook his head helplessly, like facing a reckless child, raised his crutches and tapped the back of Shui Chen's hand, a cool breath spread from the contact point, Shui Chen was already very familiar with this feeling.Soon, the tingling sensation on the back of the hand disappeared, and the original burnt area also returned to normal skin color.

"Look outside."

Number Seven looked out the window, Shui Chen suppressed the doubts in his heart, and followed Number Seven's line of sight to look out.

From the observation deck, you can see the panorama of the final zone, including the small platform where Shuichen came in, and the endless sea of ​​foam.Looking down from the highest point, Shuichen found that although the sea of ​​foam surged up and down from time to time, overall it was the same as the current urban layout of Qicheng.

It seems that No. [-] usually sits in the observation deck, observing the constant changes of Qicheng.

"All of these things are cultivated by you alone. Because of your existence, they will continue to evolve and become more and more like a person. This is something I can't do."

Number Seven stood up and walked to the window, gently touching the glass window, as if touching every building and every person in the city of paint.

"However, being able to successfully protect you and satisfy all your wishes is my primary duty. It's a pity that I don't seem to be fulfilling this duty so well."

Having said that, he turned his head to face Shui Chen, his words were full of emotion.

"I am sorry for my previous misunderstanding."

Thinking of the previous malicious speculation about the Science Affairs Office, Shuichen's face showed a rare shy blush. In front of No. [-], he seemed to be facing the closest person, his emotions were fully exposed, and he was completely unable to maintain his usual calmness and ease. .

"You are indeed working hard for the existence of Qicheng and the survival of everyone, without any selfishness. Then—why did you attack me and Qianxing before, and use the consumption-like puppet state to control everyone?"

Speaking of this, Shui Chen's tone became a little aggressive, like a child who was treated unfairly by his parents and felt wronged.

After stepping into Yixin, Shuichen discovered that the state of the Science Affairs Office was showing strangeness everywhere. On the one hand, he deliberately released water to let them discover the truth, and treated every resident of Qicheng with incomparable caution; They even almost put him to death, and casually consumed the hard-earned people.

Number Seven didn't speak, his fingers tapped silently on the crutch, and he turned his head to look into the distance again.After a long time, he seemed to answer the question irrelevantly and said: "You have to believe that as long as it is what you want, I will do my best to help you achieve it."

His tone was too solemn and tragic, which made Shuichen choked up all of a sudden, couldn't bear to continue to ask this question, and hesitated whether to go forward to comfort him.

I don't know why, No. [-] can always soften Shuichen's heart, making him want to follow his request, and can't bear to see him feel a little sad.

"Are you happy living in Qicheng?"

No. [-] took off his hat and put it on the window sill, pressed his heart with his fist with his right hand, then put away all the heaviness, regained the gentleness when they met, and asked Shui Chen this familiar question.

Shui Chen nodded.

"I am happy, able to do what I like, without any worries."

"Then why don't you want to stay, and still want to leave? The world I can create is not good enough, and what I can give you is not enough?"

Number Seven's tone reveals distress, as well as remorse that he didn't do well.

"You are very good, and Qicheng is also very good! It's just like you said, these are all created, not real, but what I want is the real that can be touched and felt."

Shuichen has gradually sorted out the mixed memories in his heart. Although they are only incomplete fragments, combined with Sha Qianxing's vague words before and some details, he guessed that the world of insect swarms is his real place. , and Qicheng is just a utopia to protect him.

Perhaps, now he is still lying in the life capsule just like the last moment when his memory was suspended.

"However, there is nothing left in that world, and you will die when you go back."

"I can't stay here forever, no matter how cruel the truth is, I still have to go back and face it. Besides——Since Qianxing has come here, it means that there is a need for me now."

Shuichen did not forget the guardian mission that Sha Qianxing mentioned from the very beginning, and the location where the life capsule is stored is likely to be their base.Besides, he couldn't bear to be separated from Sha Qianxing.

"Then what about the outsider next to you? Do you care about his life or death?"

"what?!"

Shui Chen didn't react for a while, he always thought that Sha Qianxing would return to the real world with him, and complete the guardian mission together.

"These seven days in Qicheng are the last seven days of his life. If he leaves Qicheng, he will die."

Seventh's words were like a bolt from the blue, making Shui Chen's complexion suddenly pale.

Qianxing will die.

These words filled Shuichen's mind, making him freeze in place.He thought to himself, no wonder when Qianxing mentioned the seven-day deadline, he said that he hoped they could stay until the last moment.

He and Qianxing have just started, and he still thinks that when everything is settled, he can really be his teacher, teach him how to draw, and live with him.No matter how difficult the reality is, we can always face it together and complete the guardianship mission together.

But now, someone told him that there would be no future, and what he thought was the beginning was already the end.

"If you stay in Qicheng together, I can extend the seven days infinitely, and he won't die. You can live here for a long time, and you can do whatever you want."

When Shuichen's heart fell into the abyss, No. [-]'s words were like the last life-saving rope, hanging him on the edge of the cliff.

The author has something to say: I will post today's first update first, and the second update will be uploaded at [-]:[-] in the morning. Cuties can eat it after getting up in the morning~

First of all, I want to emphasize again that the ending is HE, but it may not be the traditional form of HE, but it is the most suitable HE in my opinion. I hope the cuties will like it.

No. [-] really has two attitudes towards Qianxing and Brother Chen [hhh] He is the superficially gentle but indifferent type towards Qianxing, and really loves Brother Chen, after all Brother Chen is really his child.

There will be a little bit of turbulence, and the foreshadowing has actually been laid before. If you look carefully, you will find that there are some things that have not been explained clearly.

【What he thought was the beginning is already the end. 】I was abused by myself, thinking that getting through this test is the light, but in fact, all this now is the last greed.

Moreover, No. [-] tried all means to make Brother Chen happy and fulfill all of Brother Chen's wishes, which made people feel a little sour.